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Hockey Canada's decision to introduce bodychecking among nine- and 10-year-olds was followed by increases in hospital visits for concussions among all...

VANCOUVER — House-league hitting will be a thing of the past next season for young Vancouver-area hockey players.

Citing studies that show triple the injuries in leagues where there is bodychecking, Pacific Coast Amateur Hockey Association members voted 76 per cent to eliminate hitting in the "fun" levels of hockey (bodychecking will still be allowed at the "rep" level played by the most advanced young players.)

While the face of professional hockey — Sidney Crosby — languishes for months on the sidelines with a concussion, hockey parent Bill Veenstra said ultimately the mounting medical evidence is what ruled the day.

"The medical journals have shown that adding backchecking triples the risk of injury," said Veenstra, president of the Vancouver Thunderbird Minor Hockey Association.

"That's hard to ignore."

Veenstra said his own son plays Bantam rep hockey — "he loves to bodycheck" — but this ruling may bring back young players who quit the game because of the violence.

"There are some people that drop out of hockey," he said. "It's always a concern."

Coach Rob Cronk's Peewee Hawks team is allowed to bodycheck this season, but next year hitting will be banned.

"It's a really big decision — they've changed the game of hockey," said Cronk, who'll take a wait-and-see attitude to how many people sign up next year.

"Maybe some kids will stop playing because they liked the hitting, and maybe some kids will sign up because they didn't like all the hitting," said Cronk, who played full-contact as a kid.

"We had hitting from a young age."

Cronk said B.C. has two-year leagues, so the difference in size can sometimes contribute to injuries.

"You can have a very large 14-year-old hitting a very small 13-year-old."

The PCAHA handed out background materials to prepare its members for the vote. Among the most telling — a comparative study of Peewee hockey in Alberta, where there is bodychecking, and in Quebec, where bodychecking is banned.

"The study concluded that, among 11-to-12-year-old ice hockey players . . . a three-fold increased risk of all game-related injuries and the categories of concussions, severe injury and severe concussion."